Background: 'Skytrekking' is an outdoor activity that takes a person travelling from tree to tree while overcoming aerial obstacles. These obstacles are suspended at various heights, and some could be reaching more than 20 metres off the ground. The difficulty in crossing each obstacle varies according to the trails prepared. SkyTrex Adventure is the name of the company that runs this activity, based at Taman Pertanian Malaysia, Bukit Cahaya Seri Alam, Shah Alam, Selangor. Note: There could be many people wanting to do the skytrekking so it's best that you check out the website and make the online booking. You can also choose the timeslot that you prefer.
How to get there: The Shah Alam district can be intimidating for the uninitiated, with new highways connecting to and fro and even more with the countless roundabouts! But fear not, my friends...when all else fails, the Federal Highway is always the best bet :)
 |
| Source: SkyTrex Adventure website |
There's a car parking fee of RM1 within the Taman Pertanian compound. Then there's the Taman Pertanian entrance fee of RM3 per adult. Past the entrance, board the bus to the SkyTrex area. The bus could take some time to arrive, but it's better to wait as the distance was quite far. Otherwise, those who have the time to spare could possibly explore the nature by foot. But seriously, you'd take around 20-30 minutes walk to reach SkyTrex.
SkyTrex offers four course of challenges for us to choose from. SkyTrex Initiation is a compulsory exercise for the participants to learn how to use the equipments and observe the safety precautions. Little Adventure, meanwhile, is tailored mostly to accommodate kids. Parents are allowed to accompany their children during the challenge. This could be a good family outing for the adventurous little ones. Big Thrill could be a good start for novice and beginners while Extreme Challenge is not intended for the faint-hearted.
As for my friends and I, we've got ourselves through the Big Thrill and the Extreme Challenge (in two separate days). Hurray!
Big Thrill
First up was some basic stuff like filling up the indemnity form and gearing up for the challenge. There were lockers available for rent, as we're advised not to carry many things while being up on the trees.
Next after the Initiation, the Big Thrill opening challenge was to climb a very high tree. Gosh, this was kinda tiring as it really put my whole body to work. We haven't gone far and I already felt my back aching :P
 |
| Ughh...my limbs! |
 |
| We're ready, yeah! |
The route was designed to interlace the stations by varying difficulties. Some could look easy but hey, they're not necessarily so. Sometimes it seemed easy as we watched other people doing it, but it didn't come out right when its our turn! There was this one challenge that required us to simply cross the bridge (it could be the 'Ayam Short Cut'...hhmm..), but the distance that we got to past was very, very far it made us tired and dizzy from the bouncy bridge.
For me, one of the many highlights at Big Thrill was the flying foxes (some 3-4 of them). Others include one of the 'Air Bridge', where it swayed to and fro so quickly that it was hard to reach my leg out and step on the next pipe. The 'Happy Hopper' required us to be really happy to be able to swing on the ropes and cross to the next plank, which was at least 1 metre apart! I only managed to get by with 3 hops or so before I walked on the side tightropes. As for the 'Scarry Sky Crawl', it was kinda cool even though at first I felt sceptical throwing myself off a rope and sticking to a large net. Imagine getting trapped in a giant spiderweb, at least that's how I saw myself.
 |
| Scarry Sky Crawl |
 |
| Air Bridge |
 |
| Happy Hopper |
Extreme Challenge
The next visit to SkyTrex brought us to the Extreme Challenge. Hohoho, we're more than ready this time! The weather was humid in the morning but shifted to some heavy raining after that. We almost got cancelled out and might have had to reschedule to some other time. Luckily, the rain subsided and we managed to go ahead despite the slippery tracks. Anyhow, we're already wet from the rain just before. Just gotta be careful. Safety first at all times.
Extreme Challenge was supposed to be tougher than Big Thrill, and so the first climb was way up higher into the trees. Even those not afraid of heights could be shaken. Seriously, it could be the climb that exhausted us!
 |
| Climbing at the start... |
 |
| ...and then some more climbing |
There were names to the stations as well, but not as cute as those of Big Thrill I think. Here, Extreme Challenge had more flying foxes, ropewalking and pipe-crossing at greater heights. A different addition was the 'Monkeybar' where we had to really rely on our upper body strengths, which many of us lacked! There's a cheat to this should you bail, so don't worry so much. There's also a short, short, brief 'Tarzan Swing' included. The 'Chicken Exits' were still around, just in case.
 |
the ropes, the pipes, the air bridge, and the tightrope |
Skytrekking was a fun option to spend the day with friends out in the nature. The slips, the falls, the shrieks and the hot/wet weather just added up to the drama in completing the challenges. I like!
Acknowledgement: Some of the photos shown are taken from my friends' private collections. Thanks mates!
No comments:
Post a Comment